…the Andalusians (soon joined by what remains of the Berber rebels), assemble in Mérida.

Thalaba ibn Salama.

Much of the ensuing few months is spent in an intercenine Arab civil war, the Berber question relegated to a secondary concern.

Sometime in late 642 or early 643, Thalaba marches onto Mérida, an area of rebel activity, but soon finds himself trapped with his small army in the citadel by the Andalusians.

Calculating there is no escape, Andalusians carry the siege of Mérida in a leisurely fashion.

The siege camp soon takes on the character of a fair, attracting numerous onlookers and their families, but one early morning, when the besiegers are preparing for a much-anticipated festival, Thalaba launches an unexpected sally out of Mérida, and quickly overwhelms the siege camp, taking as many as ten thousand prisoners, including many women and children.

Thalaba marches his prisoners to Córdoba, where he is said to have sold many of the high-ranking Andalusian captives as discount-price slaves.